BACKGROUND

Education in Worcester, Massachusetts and beyond

       The Massachusetts Education Reform Act of 1993 (MERA) changed the standards, framework, and many other aspects of education in Massachusetts in the years following 1993 up until now. The intentions of the Act were to increase equity for students in Massachusetts, and generate greater accountability in schools to teach to standards, with increased fairness in funding for public schools. The Common Core Standards were adopted to drive curriculum. According to the MERA, all public school students in Massachusetts are required to pass tests in 4th, 8th, and 10th grades in ELA and math. These tests are called the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System, or MCAS. In years following the implementation of the MERA, there were also many subject tests added to the MCAS in STEM subjects. Students are now required to pass four high school STEM MCAS tests. All ninth grade students must pass the biology MCAS test in Worcester.

        When Massachusetts is compared against education on an international level, it is evident that Massachusetts education is impressive and effective. The Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) is a study which analyzes education across the globe. In a standardized test conducted in 2011 of 8th-grade students in science, the average score on the TIMSS scale was 500 points. The top three scores across the globe were from Singapore (590), China (564), and Korea (560). The United States average was 525 points, and Massachusetts scored an impressive 567 points. Over the years from 2007 to 2011, the average scores increased 11 points in Massachusetts, from 556 points to 567 points. Massachusetts provides an impeccable and competitive education for American students.

        The Worcester district is a hot spot for education. With over 40 public schools, including charter schools, and over 21 private schools, Worcester caters to over 25,000 students. There are nine higher education institutions in Worcester as well, providing a rich educational culture and many opportunities for students in the Worcester to stay local for quality education after their secondary education.

        The school in which I completed the student teaching practicum was Worcester Technical High School. This school has a unique format due to the vocational program available to every student. Students submit an application to the school to attend. All students choose a vocational study, varying from cosmetology to automotive technology. The schedule format has students in core academic classes, such as science, math, English, and history, for one week which Worcester Tech calls “A Week,” and then students take their vocational, or “shop” classes, during their “Z” week with Math and English studies as well. The schedules for A week and Z week alternate every week, so students have science class every other week. Essentially I taught students two weeks in one month, and teachers only have 20 weeks of instruction throughout the school year for each class. Fortunately all science classes at Worcester tech are double periods, so each class I taught was about 1.5 hours long.

        Worcester Tech has a very diverse student population. Students whose first language is not English is about 46.6%, and students who are English Language Learners comprise 7.4% of the population. Economically, students who are considered disadvantaged comprise 44.1% of the school population. There are many minorities represented at Worcester Tech, including a large population of students who are Hispanic (36%) and students who are African American (16.3%). The remaining population consists of 7.1% students who are Asian, 3.5% of students who are multi-race/non-Hispanic, and the remaining portion of students are white (36.8%). 

        There are no reported dropouts for the academic year 2017-2018 at Worcester Tech.  However the 4- year graduation rate reported for the 2018 school year was 95.6%. The remaining 4.4% either completed high school but stayed back, yet 0.6% of students are reported to have dropped out on this report. There were no expulsions, and 64 out of 1400 students who were disciplined during the year. Overall, Worcester Tech is said to be a very safe school with a student population that is very well behaved. Students are amicable and entrusted with responsibility by teachers and staff. There are few issues reported by teachers at Worcester Tech involving classroom management or discipline issues.

        The classes I taught at Worcester Tech were all freshmen biology classes. I had four classes of honors biology, and one class of college prep/inclusion students. All classes were double periods, which consisted of 1.5 hours of instruction. Students at Worcester Tech have a schedule with two alternating week structures, called “A week” and “Z week.” I saw each group of students only on alternating weeks, which created an interesting culture in students in general and required adjustment of curriculum as a teacher. The students in my classes had very diverse backgrounds, with over 40 students out of about 100 whose native language was not English, and over 20 students who were born outside of the country. Class sizes were about 23 on average, and my largest class was 28 students.